From left, Maria Mortimer and Michelle Hampton help Kathy Quinn (center) celebrate her 25th service anniversary. They were joined by Kathy’s daughter, Heather Rainer, and Latia Clifton. Kathy’s son-in-law, granddaughter and 9-month-old great grandson also were on hand.

In March, Kathy Quinn celebrated her 25th service anniversary right where she started — in our Silver Spring office. It was Marquette Savings Bank then. “I went to bank teller training school in downtown Milwaukee,” says the West Allis native, adding, “but I really learned more on the job.” Marquette merged with North Shore Bank in 2001.

For a time, Kathy tried the role of what is now teller supervisor, but she preferred her original teller position. “I didn’t like managing people,” she says.

Kathy learned new technology and processes as she adapted to the countless changes that have affected banking in the past two decades. “When it was Marquette, everyone did everything, so we had to know all of the positions. When it became North Shore, jobs became more specialized,” she says.

Although focusing on a particular area, combined with the rapid pace of technology advancements, has condensed the time it takes to perform many tasks, Kathy says, “Things may be moving a bit faster, but I still take my time. I’m a thorough person who wants to make sure things are done right.”

Kathy considers electronic ATM balancing one of the best changes to come with technology, because processing long tapes of transactions was tedious, especially after a busy weekend of use.

Mentors mattered
Retiree Pat Boeckler, Operations Channel Manager Lyneen Fischer and Erica Johnson, now in our Customer Support Center, stand out in Kathy’s mind as important mentors. “Pat and I were about the same age, and she understood all of my idiosyncrasies,” Kathy says. “Lyneen was always there to help wherever she could, and she gave me lots of chances to try new things.”

“Erica was great at helping me learn how to work with all of the computer changes.” Kathy admits she has had a home PC for only a year or so.

Speaking of computers, she also remembers the worldwide scare about the potential for disaster as we entered the 21^st century. There was concern that computers would crash, unable to transition from 1999 to 2000, because going from the last two digits of 99 to 00 would not be recognized as valid.

Some North Shore branches were open a few hours that Sunday to assure customers their accounts and funds were safe.

Another situation locked in Kathy’s memory occurred on a Saturday. “We were set to close at noon, and a customer walked in at five minutes to 12 and wanted to open seven or eight savings accounts for family members. I think it was almost 2 o’clock before we finally got out of there.”

Customer seeks “Get out of Jail” cash
Yet another memory — funny then and funny now — was a phone call from a customer known to branch staff as an amiable “gentleman drinker.” “He called from Florida one time requesting that we post his bail so he could get out of jail,” Kathy says. “I don’t recall the outcome on that one.”

Although Kathy expects the future to bring continuing technology advances, she intends to still focus on getting to know branch customers and providing the personal service they appreciate and she takes such pride in.

Her advice to newcomers: There’s more to a job than a paycheck. Learn, stick around, and build your knowledge. The grass isn’t always greener somewhere else.